Buck Showalter and Matt Wieters on August 28, 2011

The pound hug (also referred to as a pound shake, hip-hop hug, one-armed hug, dude hug, cootie hug, homie hug, shug, bro-grab, bro hug, brah hug, thug hug, man-hug, or a daps) is a stylized

greeting Greeting is an act of communication in which human beings intentionally make their presence known to each other, to show attention to, and to suggest a type of relationship (usually cordial) or social status (formal or informal) between indiv ...

, exclusively performed between two people, that consists of a combination of a

handshake A handshake is a globally widespread, brief greeting or parting tradition in which two people grasp one of each other's like hands, in most cases accompanied by a brief up-and-down movement of the grasped hands. Customs surrounding handshakes a ...

and one-armed

hug A hug is a form of endearment, universal in most human communities, in which two or more people put their arms around the neck, back, or waist of one another and hold each other closely. If more than two people are involved, it may be referre ...

. Unlike the traditional hug, which symbolically and effectively removes interpersonal barriers and unites the two persons embracing, the pound hug—performed by keeping the right hand locked in handshake while the left arm wraps around the other's shoulder—interposes the obstacle of the two right arms to the joining of the two bodies.

Origin

The pound hug evolved from the

dap DAP or Dap may refer to: Science * DAP (gene), human gene that encodes death-associated proteins, which mediate programmed cell death * Diamidophosphate, phosphorylating compound * Diaminopimelic acid, amino acid derivative of lysine * Diamin ...

, a type of handshake created by African-American soldiers serving in the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vietnam a ...

. Due to the high racial tensions in the United States during this time, black soldiers were frequent victims of racist violence and systemic discrimination in the military. The dap became a gesture of unity and solidarity between black veterans, with its movements symbolizing "I’m not above you, you’re not above me, we’re side by side, we’re together". From these veterans, the dap dispersed into hip hop culture and eventually

popular culture Popular culture (also called mass culture or pop culture) is generally recognized by members of a society as a set of practices, beliefs, artistic output (also known as, popular art or mass art) and objects that are dominant or prevalent in a ...

, retaining its conveyed sense of camaraderie.

Popular Culture

An example of the pound hug can be seen in the Tupac Shakur video " I Get Around" in 1993.

References

External links

''How to give the perfect man hug'' – VideoJug
{{Gestures Greetings Hip hop phrases North American society